Irish weatherman warns of dramatic changes to come for Irish climate

Veteran weatherman Ger Fleming has warned the Irish people that Ireland will experience severe weather conditions in the coming years. Fleming is a long-serving weatherman on RTÉ News, the state broadcaster’s news program, as part of Mét Eireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service.

Speaking on RTÉ’s "Science Squad," Fleming noted that while Ireland has enjoyed mild, relatively temperate weather as long as our memory stretches, this would not be the case when our children and grandchildren come of age.

The weather in Ireland is set to worsen significantly over the coming decades, and the country may already have had a taste of what’s to come with the battering Atlantic storms in late 2013 and early 2014. Many parts of Ireland experienced their worst ever flooding during that period and it's set to only get worse, as Ireland is facing into its worst winter in 100 years.

But it won’t just be the winters that are worse, Fleming added. The country will get both wetter and warmer, possibly causing untold damage to Irish livestock and crops.

As records for rainfall, and temperature highs and lows seem to be broken every year, Fleming worries that the damage caused by global warming has caused irreversible damage to the global weather systems. For Fleming, the children and grandchildren will be paying for the sins of the father. Speaking on the show, Fleming said:

“In my lifetime, in what I’ve left to me on this Earth, I will probably see some changes, but my children [really will] see changes and my grandchildren will see big changes.”

Speaking on the same program, Frank McGovern of the Environmental Protection Agency said that Ireland was headed for a worst case scenario unless something is done on a global level to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Speaking specifically about Ireland, McGovern said:

“We have to move onto a pathway of low emissions and reduced reliance on fossil energy.”